A country with vast agricultural potential is still battling high levels of child malnutrition, while climate shocks such as El Niño threaten to deepen food insecurity

MAPUTO —Mozambique has land, water, farmers and enormous agricultural potential. Yet, for millions of families, having the capacity to produce food does not necessarily mean having enough nutritious food on the table.

That contradiction lies at the heart of Mozambique’s food and nutrition challenge.

At the opening of the country’s first National Food and Nutrition Security Conference, President Daniel Francisco Chapo described food security not simply as a social or agricultural issue, but as a question of national development, human dignity, sovereignty and economic independence.

The challenge is stark: chronic malnutrition affects around 37% of children under the age of five, according to figures cited by the President. The Government’s Five-Year Programme for 2025–2029 aims to bring that rate down to 30% by 2029.

For a country blessed with considerable agricultural resources, the figures raise a fundamental question: how can Mozambique have so much land, water and productive potential while so many of its children remain deprived of the nutrition they need to grow and fulfil their potential?

It is a question that goes far beyond agriculture, the president said.

A poorly nourished child is more likely to struggle with learning and development, while inadequate nutrition in early childhood can have consequences throughout life. For Chapo, investing in nutrition is therefore an investment in Mozambique’s human capital and in the country’s future.

“Food and nutrition security” must consequently become a collective national responsibility, he argued, involving Government, farmers, businesses, financial institutions, civil society, academia and development partners.

The agricultural paradox

Mozambique possesses the resources to feed its population and develop agriculture, fisheries and agro-processing into major sources of income, employment and shared prosperity.

But producing food is only the beginning.

Between the farm and the family table lies a complex chain involving roads, storage facilities, markets, transport, processing, irrigation and access to finance. Weaknesses anywhere along that chain can mean that food is lost, becomes too expensive or never reaches the communities that need it most.

The President called for greater productivity, reduced post-harvest losses, improved storage and preservation, stronger processing capacity, better logistics and more efficient markets.

The objective, he said, should be to ensure that safe, diverse and nutritious food reaches Mozambican families at affordable prices.

Infrastructure is particularly important. A farmer may produce a good harvest, but if there is no reliable road or transport network to take that produce to market, production can become economically meaningless.

For this reason, the Government sees its National Roads Programme to 2030 as part of the wider food-security agenda.

Farmers must also be able to eat

There is another contradiction at the centre of Mozambique’s food system: those who produce food are often among those struggling to secure a decent income.

Chapo argued that agricultural producers must receive fair prices for their work and investment. He criticised a system in which middlemen can determine prices after farmers have spent an entire season bearing the costs and risks of production.

Institutions such as the Cereals Institute (ICM), he said, have an important role to play in agricultural marketing and should help create a reliable market for national production.

Better prices, better roads and reliable markets could provide farmers with an incentive to produce more while enabling them to improve their own living conditions.

The ultimate goal is an agricultural sector that does more than feed the country: it must generate income, employment, industrial development and opportunities.

Mozambique must produce more of what it consumes, process more of what it produces and gradually reduce its dependence on imported food, especially from South Africa.

That, in the President’s view, is part of the road towards economic independence.

Climate change adds another layer of vulnerability

The food-security challenge is becoming more difficult because Mozambique is highly exposed to climate-related disasters.

Droughts, floods, cyclones and other extreme weather events repeatedly disrupt agricultural production, destroy infrastructure, reduce household incomes and undermine access to food.

The El Niño phenomenon has added to these concerns.

Chapo warned that the country must not wait for a climate disaster to occur before responding. Instead, Mozambique needs to anticipate risks, prepare communities and invest in resilience.

Water management and irrigation, climate-adapted technologies, early-warning systems and adequate storage capacity are among the measures required to protect food production.

The urgency is heightened by the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters. Mozambique is among the countries most exposed to climate-related hazards, making resilience an essential component of national food security.

For a largely rain-fed agricultural economy, prolonged drought can quickly translate into lower harvests, rising food prices and increased pressure on already vulnerable households. At the same time, excessive rainfall and floods can destroy crops, livestock, homes and roads, cutting communities off from markets.

Climate shocks therefore do not stop at the farm gate. Their consequences can travel all the way to the family dining table.

A child does not live in a ministry

One of the central messages emerging from the conference was that food and nutrition cannot be addressed by one Government department alone.

The State may divide its responsibilities between Agriculture, Health, Education, Water, Sanitation and Social Protection. But a child does not experience life through separate ministries.

For a Mozambican child, nutrition, health, education, clean water and social protection are interconnected needs.

This means that Government programmes must converge in the same communities and reach the same vulnerable families.

The challenge is therefore to move beyond institutional coordination towards genuine “multisectoral action”, with clear responsibilities, resources, deadlines and measurable results.